Pre-game brawl in stands leads to Coachella Valley vs. Desert Hot Springs football game being canceled

A brawl broke out at Desert Hot Springs High School before the football game with Coachella Valley. The principal of DHS High called off the game
Richard Lui/The Desert Sun

A fight broke out in the home stand at Desert Hot Springs High School before the start of a home game against Coachella Valley Friday, October 20, 2017. The principal of Desert Hot Springs cancelled the game.(Photo: Richard Lui/Desert Sun)

It was Senior Night at Desert Hot Springs High School and a second scuffle had broken out in the football stadium's home bleachers just before kickoff. Golden Eagles star receiver Joziaha Winfrey looked up from the field to see an adult taking a swing at his dad in the bleachers.

Within seconds, Winfrey was in the stands punching back, defending his dad, who was in the middle of a brawl that stretched across the bleachers and ended a varsity football game before it even began.

George Bullis, the Desert Hot Springs High principal, made the decision to forfeit the game to Coachella Valley after multiple DHS players found their way into the bleachers as others looked on in confusion.

DHS athletic director Kai Lyles said the decision to cancel the game was made with the safety of the spectators in mind.

"It was one of those decisions that was made based on the safety of the spectators and players," Lyles said. "It's an unfortunate turn of events. I don't even know what took place yet, so I'll have to figure that out."

Coachella Valley coaches initially offered to play Saturday, instead of accepting the forfeit. But considering the severity of the situation, and that police said it could take a few days to fully investigate what exactly happened, Lyles said he felt it was better to just cancel the game and move on.

As a part of the Senior Night festivities, senior football players and cheerleaders were recognized in front of the home crowd with selected family members and friends in tow.

After all the introductions had been made, and just as the teams were preparing for the opening kickoff, an initial fight between students drew attention away from the field. It was broken up by security and administrators, before a second fight was then instigated, which included multiple people within the stands, both adults and students.

"Of course, Joziaha, seeing it from the field, that's what caused him to react and go into the crowd, unfortunately," Liz Ward, Winfrey's mother, told The Desert Sun. "I'm pretty sure any kid would try to help their dad if they see their dad getting hurt."

No arrests have been made, according to the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. Ward said Winfrey was initially detained by police, and later released.

Speaking about the incident, DHS head coach Bill Johnson shook his head in frustration as he tried piecing together what had happened.

"This is really unfortunate for the kids," Johnson said, "because a few people unfortunately made some decisions that affected so many others in the community: the community that came out to see the game, the community from Coachella who came out to see the game, the kids who came to play from Coachella, all the kids in that team room who wanted to play a game.

"Everybody out here wanted to play a football game. This was a chance for two communities to come together and do something positive, and when poor decisions get made and control gets lost, then everybody loses."

Details of how the first altercation started, and its link to the second, remain unclear. The first fight was between students, and adults became involved as it was being broken up. Ward, Joziaha Winfrey's mother, said that Donte Winfrey, Joziah's father, was defending a student when he was attacked.

Across the stadium, Coachella Valley coaches were shocked at what they were seeing from inside their locker room as the scuffle unfolded. They kept their team in the locker room until it was announced that the game had been forfeited.

"I've never seen this before," Coachella Valley head coach Brett Davis said. "We watched the whole thing. I saw a lot of their players run up in there. It's too bad.

"You never see anything like this. This is crazy."

A fight broke out in the home stand at Desert Hot Springs High School before the start of a home game against Coachella Valley Friday, October 20, 2017. The principal of Desert Hot Springs cancelled the game.(Photo: Richard Lui/Desert Sun)

Davis said he was disappointed for Desert Hot Springs, but also for his own players, who, like the the Golden Eagles, will now only play nine regular season games this season.

"It's tough. It's like another bye week almost," Davis said. "You've got to get some reps. We have some guys having a pretty good year, (and) we'd like to get some numbers on guys."

A fight broke out in the home stand at Desert Hot Springs High School before the start of a home game against Coachella Valley Friday, October 20, 2017. The principal of Desert Hot Springs cancelled the game.(Photo: Richard Lui/Desert Sun)

The game was supposed to be Johnson's Golden Eagles against the school where he was an assistant for the last five seasons.

It was also going to be a matchup of Coachella Valley's Armando Deniz and Desert Hot Springs' Nathan Kelly, the top two passing quarterbacks, at least statistically, in the De Anza League.

Deniz said he was disappointed he didn't get a chance to see that through.

"I just wanted to come out and ball," he said. "I was looking forward to a good game."

Ward said that Winfrey, her son, feels bad about his involvement in the incident, but that he felt "stuck," and he couldn't stand idly while his dad was being attacked.

"He kind of felt that he made a bad choice," she said, adding that "anybody is going to want to have the urge to go and help their parent."

The forfeit moves Coachella Valley to a 6-2 record, and DHS drops to 0-8. It also ruined the last home game for the Desert Hot Springs seniors. No decision has been made on the final two games of the season, or whether any suspensions will be issued.

DHS players were kept in the team locker room near the field until the stadium had emptied, then they were escorted, some wiping tears from their eyes, back to the locker room inside the school.

After an exasperating two months to start the season, Johnson expressed that this was the last thing he wanted for the seniors, who will not play another home game again.

"This was their last game on their home field," Johnson said. "This is their senior night. Incredible, man. It's terrible."

If you have additional information to share about this incident, please email sports reporter Andrew John at andrew.john@desertsun.com.